A few months ago, the sharp and inward-looking Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins released his EP or more; the anxious, explaining that it was the first in the series. Per Jenkins, the or more series “is a project series involving musical ideas and concepts that are currently inspiring the album’s creation process.” It’s a set of sketches, then, and a preview of what might come. But it’s also shaping up into a powerful body of work on its own.

Yesterday, without a whole lot of advance warning, Jenkins shared a new eight-song EP called or more; the frustration, as 2 Dope Boyz points out. It’s full of Jenkins rapping hard over crackling beats, and it’s only got one guest appearance, from Sean Deaux. This time around, Jenkins seems to be focusing on all the things about functioning within the current rap ecology that get under his skin. In a recent Twitter thread, Jenkins wrote:

Just know music is coming. 2017 was definitely year of getting it together for me… Glad I’m in the position to take a year to get shit together..no matter the frustrations really… It’s not a matter of rushing. More just understanding that things aren’t the way you thought they were. Taking that from life and applying it to the *business of creativity. As opposed to just being a creative. VERY FRUSTRATING PROCESS Just to have muhfuckas tell you who you not better than.